12 OMG Moments from the Scandal/HTGAWM Crossover

It. Finally. Happened. Shonda Rhimes gifted us with two full hours of onscreen interaction between TGIT icons Olivia Pope and Annalise Keating. And the team did not disappoint! During the two crossover episodes, there were monologues, there was marching down corridors, there were surprising reversals, there was popcorn eaten while wearing drapey sweater caftans. It was everything. The plot hinges on a case Annalise wants to get in front of the Supreme Court about people who have been wrongly convicted because they couldn't afford adequate defense. She approaches Olivia Pope for help fast-tracking the case. And we're off.

Here's the biggest OMG moments from a two-hour block absolutely full of them.

Chalk writing!

The opening of the Scandal half of the two-parter mimics the first moments from the premiere of How to Get Away With Murder: The camera follows Olivia's hand as it writes in cursive across a chalkboard in a law school classroom. "How to Survive a Scandal." I am immediately sold on this new show. I don't care if they just re-air the series from the beginning with a new title, I'm still watching every single one, DVR-ing it and recapping it. Let's do this, How to Survive a Scandal.

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A simple request!

"I need this case to be fast-tracked to the United States Supreme Court." Annalise says, like it's NBD. Then she hands Olivia a huge accordion file and is like, "Read this." Obsessed. Annalise Keating is not intimidated by anyone or anything, not even the limits of reality.

Olitz! Olitz?

Liv meets with Fitz. She greets him with the familiar "Hi." He grows chilly. "How can I help you, Olivia?" On my couch I begin belting "Didn't We Almost Have It All?"

An Oval Office meeting!

We go from a random woman rolling into Olivia's lecture to Annalise and Michaela sitting in the Oval Office with the president, the former president, and the attorney-general. Sure, that is absolutely how things work.

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Judge drag!

Everyone gets into a flurry trying to influence Supreme Court Justices and Abby is dressed in all black, with a pussy bow blouse and her dark blue coat draped over her arm. At first glance, it looks exactly like she's giving you judge cosplay. I would be very interested in a costume-themed episode of Scandal.

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The new Supreme!

The team at Quinn Perkins and Associates are conscripted by Mellie and Jake to try to find dirt on Supreme Court Justice Spivey, like they are the villains in The Pelican Brief.

Beauty shop drama!

OLIVIA AND ANNALISE GO TO A BEAUTY SHOP TOGETHER.

AND THEN OLIVIA TELLS THE BEAUTICIANS TO GIVE HER AND ANNALISE THE ROOM! Like! Can you believe?! First of all, no one has ever told a beautician to clear the room in their own shop. In any case, these two people leave Olivia and Annalise alone when Annalise finds out that Olivia has been fired from the White House and is putting up a front. Annalise lets loose a righteous-anger, Papa Pope monologue that would have snatched Olivia bald if her hair wasn't clipped into curlers all over her head.

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Annalise called Olivia "a siddity phony!" and I'm still screaming. I mean...unsure if I am detecting a lie.

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THEN OLIVIA READS ANNALISE FOR TAKING THE MEGABUS TO DC. And let me tell you, the wi-fi reception is great in the afterlife because I am 1000 percent deceased while I write this.

Snacks!

Somehow they manage to mend fences and share a glass of red wine (for Olivia) and a bowl of popcorn. Liv jokes that it's "siddity snack," which is also my nickname.

M & M!

Michaela and Marcus have full-on, clothes-off sex in a car in front of the home of a lawyer who is about to oppose Annalise before the Supreme Court. Totes normal.

THESE. COATS.

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THESE. COATSSSSS. Dick Tracy could never.

The color!

The lighting on the HTGAWM episodeis warmer than in the Scandal episode's and the actresses are dressed in variations on gray-blue and marigold, mirroring their FABULOUS TRENCHES, and as usual Shondaland tells a comprehensive color story effortlessly and gorgeously.

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CICELY TYSON!

Oh. My. God. The iconic Cicely Tyson shows up as Annalise's opinionated, fast-talking mother, Sophia Harkness. Cicely Tyson, Kerry Washington, and Viola Davis appear on the same screen and somehow my television has not exploded.

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As she has in her previous appearances, Tyson drops truth bombs with aplomb.

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She also calls Annalise's Supreme Court case a "debate contest," which is perfect, and accidentally spills a coffee on Olivia's periwinkle suit, which is the nation's most serious crime. That should be tried before the Supreme Court itself, honestly. This seems the only legal option. Obviously, Cicely Tyson's Sophia could never be tried in front of a jury of her peers. She has no peers. All three of these women are peerless. Iconic.

Bonus Easter Egg:

Living legend Glynn Turman (who once was married to Aretha Franklin) plays Nathaniel Lahey, the named defendant in Annalise's case. At the very end of the second part of the crossover, Lahey meets Annalise's mother. They call each other brave and then she looks up at him and smiles in a way that is most definitely a callback to this image from The River Niger, which starred Cicely Tyson, Glynn Turman, and James Earl Jones.

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